CFA Society Chicago

March marked the 25th anniversary for the QQQ ETF, one of the granddaddies of them all. This ETF set the table for thousands more to follow. In this episode, Rich Excell CFA, CMT speaks with Paul Schroeder CMT, the QQQ Equity Product Strategist at Invesco, to talk about the history of QQQ, how the ETF landscape has evolved, and what it might look like going forward

Tony Zhang PhD, CFA and Rich Excell CFA, CMT are together for another episode of Macro Matters. In this episode before the March FOMC meeting, Tony and Rich discuss the recent moves in commodities, what this means for inflation, how the bond market is reacting to this news on inflation, what we can expect from the FOMC, and finally, how assets are moving around the world based on this information....

In this episode, Rich Excell CFA, CMT sits down with Louay Mikdashi, the Head of Multi-sector Private Credit at Neuberger Berman. They discuss the pros & cons of the private credit market and explore the findings in Louay's recent paper " Private Credit is gaining steam – where do we go from here?"

Tony Zhang PhD, CFA and Rich Excell CFA, CMT follow up their conversation from two weeks ago. They discuss the continuing changes to market expectations for the FOMC, what this means for the yield curve, the risk appetite present in stocks, crypto and credit, and the fundamental drivers of earnings and factors. It is an action-packed episode you do NOT want to miss

Rich Excell CFA, CMT interviews Mark Higgins CFA, CFP, the author of the book "Investing in US Financial History". Mark writes an extensive account of the events in US financial history, from 1790 to the present, that should help inform policy markets and investors, because the source of many of these events are the same cycle after cycle, decade after decade, century after century.     Part 2 of...

Tony Zhang PhD, CFA and Rich Excell CFA, CMT get together on a market holiday to discuss the economic data that has come out over the last 2 weeks and what the implications are for various markets. It is the macro that matters, and the last 2 weeks were FULL of macro

Rich Excell CFA, CMT interviews Mark Higgins CFA, CFP, the author of the book "Investing in US Financial History". Mark writes an extensive account of the events in US financial history, from 1790 to the present, that should help inform policy markets and investors, because the source of many of these events are the same cycle after cycle, decade after decade, century after century.     Part 1 of...

Tony Zhang PhD, CFA and Rich Excell CFA, CMT get together to discuss the recent FOMC news and impact, as well as earnings news and events. What does this mean for stocks? What does this mean for bonds?

Monique Thanos PhD, CFA,  Tony Zhang PhD, CFA and Rich Excell CFA, CMT get together again to cover a range of topics. We start by following up from our last discussion on crypto given the news of the Bitcoin ETF. Then we get into the economy, rates and stocks. A full macro podcast

CFA Society Chicago member Dan Grana, CFA, talks with Ana Marshall, CFA, the Chief Investment Officer of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation about her recent book "The Climb to Investment Excellence." Connect with Dan on LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-grana/ For more episodes go to  www.cfachicago.org/podcasts  and email  info@cfachicago.org This podcast is provided for general...

Monique Thanos PhD, CFA, Tony Zhang PhD, CFA and Rich Excell CFA, CMT get together in the latest installment of Macro Matters to disucss the headlines, price moves and catalysts in the cryptocurrency market. Potential Bitcoin ETFs?  Layer 2 protocols? How will AI impact crypto?  Check, check and check, all were covered.  Let us know your thoughts!

Tony Zhang PhD, CFA and Rich Excell CFA, CMT are back for another episode of Macro Matters. This week they look at financial markets from a fundamental and technical perspecitve, discussing what risks investors may need to be watchful of, but also opportunities where investors should potentially look

Rich Excell, CFA is joined by Kyle Lindsay of Maranon Capital to explore middle-market financing including the different levels in the capital structures that are used and why they are preferred. What does the reward to risk look like in these financings? Enjoy

For the next installment in the IEF private credit series, Rich Excell, CFA, speaks with Isaiah Toback, the Deputy Co-Chief Investment Officer for Castlelake. Castlelake's primary business is in asset-based finance and they dig into the similarities and differences between this strategy of private credit and other strategies in the sector. 

It has been two months since our last Macro Matters podcast and a LOT has changed. Back then, we were talking about Bond Vigilantes and risks in the market. Now, we have had one of the best 4-6 week returns across assets in a long, long time. Tony Zhang and Rich Excell get together to talk abot what they see going on in the market

In the third installment of the Private Credit Series, Rich Excell, CFA, speaks with Bill Kindorf, CFA, of Apogem Capital about direct lending and how asset management vehicles are filling the void left by traditional regulated lenders. 

In this podcast, Rich Excell, CFA, speaks with Brook Scardina, a Managing Partner for Capital Markets & Investments at Oak Real Estate Partners. Brook walks us through their private credit strategy which opportunistically invests in real estate deals over a short time horizon before those loans are recapitalized. He speaks about the opportunities and risks in this growing part of the market. 

The CFA Society Chicago is embarking on a multi-part series exploring the private credit market and the different strategies with some of the most influential firms in the business. IN part one, Rich Excell, CFA, speaks to Brad Rogoff, CFA, the Head of FICC Research at Barclays Capital. Brad helps explain why private credit has grown so much post the Great Financial Crisis and how investors should...

Tony Zhang and Rich Excell are back after a brief hiatus to talk about all things macro. Right now, we are in the middle of a BIG macro event - the move in yields. This has implications for every asset around the world. What is causing this? How will this play out? What is most affected?  How should members be thinking about the move in yields?  Listen in to find out more

In this episode, Tony and Rich recap the latest FOMC meeting, how the short-term interest rate market responded, what we have seen from earnings so far this season, and how the sector performance can give us some clues as to what investors might be positioning for as we exit the summer

Monique Thanos is back and joins Tony Zhang and Rich Excell to talk about AI and what investors need to know. What are the risks? What are the opportunities? How should you approach AI as investors?

Tony Zhang and Rich Excell discuss recent Fed official comments, how the market is re-pricing this hawkishness, whether policy is diverging at the major central banks and where the risks may be in the markets. Sometimes it is a market of stocks, and sometimes it is a stock market

Monique Thanos, Tony Zhang and RIch Excell are back in the latest Macro Matters. This week they discuss the recently concluded debt ceiling discussion. Now that the bill has passed, is the market out of the woods? Or is the hard part only about to begin. Check it out

Monique Thanos, Tony Zhang and Rich Excell are back after a little break and talking about financial conditions. Breaking down the index into its component parts - Fed policy, corporate bond spreads, exchange rates and equities  - they look at what the path going forward could be for financial conditions and what this means for the outlook to various asset markets